Animal lover spends £7,500 on surgery for cat

Tanya Dickson used money she had saved up to buy a car to fund the treatment Photo: MASONS

He had an operation to wire his lower jaw, which was split in two Photo: MASONS

Tanya Dickson, 41, of Ely, Cambs, had to a forego a new car she had saved up for, to pay for the work on her grey rescue cat "Hetty" - who despite the name is male - after the accident which left it in a coma.
A £2,500 x-ray and MRI scan revealed that the 18-month-old animal's nasal cavity had been shunted to the back of its brain, one eye had collapsed with another dislocated amid countless fractures.
But with round-the-clock care by vets in Kennett, Cambs, and surgery to repair a broken jaw with wire, insert a feeding tube into the cat's neck and stitch one eye shut, Hetty is now back to good health - almost.
"He is deaf in one ear and blind in one eye and he isn't as feisty as he used to be," Ms Dickson, an airport security worker admitted.
"He is quite dopey and loves sitting on my lap. But he still has a good quality of life so it was all worth it."
Not having taken out insurance, she was forced to raid her savings to pay for the care.
"The bill just went up and up and up but without the specialist care there was no chance he would have made it," she said.
Alison Andrew, marketing manager of insurer Petplan said: "This case highlights the importance of having comprehensive pet insurance.
"Very few people have money set aside to pay for a bill of this size."

we used Care Credit to pay for my cats tail (monkey). it broke off, got infected when she beat up someone or something. it was 750. we didnt have the money, and now we pay 50 bucks a month so she can have a happy tail and no worries.

My almost 12 year old Labrador has had 4 different cancer surgeries in the last year (each one supposedly a one off), totaling well north of $20K. Each one was a different issue. But what are you going to do? She's Miss Lu, and I'd chearfully take out a mortgage on the house for her. As I said to my horse vet about my 'Once in a Lifetime Horse', now 24, If you told me you could fix him up for 10 years, there is no amount of money that you could not ask me for, because I cant replace him.

I wouldn't pay more than £1000 for any vet's bills, but that is why I have pet insurance...and if I knew it was going to effect her quality of life permanently or it was terminal anyway - I would go for euthanization.

We had a beautiful 13 year old Siamese moggy called Turpin who developed a lump in his ear...it had reached his brain and the vet told it was terminal but we could get rid of the lump externally by amputating his ear, and then remove the rest of what they could, but it really was only a matter of time....

My mum didn't ever bother with pet insurance, so had him put down. TBH I agreed with her on this one because he was not a young kitty, and the pain he'd have gne through was not worth it for what was a terminal disease.

When my pomeranian was a pup he was playing on the back of the couch when he fell off and snapped his leg. They had to do surgery to connect everything, muscle. It cost $1,200 dollars but was well worth it to see him run around again. He has a bionic leg and he had the habit of holding it up for the longest time, but he was so full of energy the cast he wore for weeks didn't stop him from playing.
Some people say it wasn't worth the money, but in my house our dogs are family. My sister paid $200 dollars to have her pugs nostrils enlarged to add 10 extra year to his life. If you can afford it, do it. It's well worth it to have your animals happy and with you for as long as possible.

Yay animals! I forked over some dough for a pet and saw some rolled eyes in response like it was a waste of money. If people can buy fucking Hummers, then I can use my money to care for another living, loving being.